The shortlist for the 2026 Booker Prize has been revealed at London’s Southbank Centre, narrowing a longlist of 13 down to six novels. The judging panel, chaired by classicist and broadcaster Mary Beard, has chosen books that range from a collapsing English coastline to late-20th-century Jamaica and the windswept Outer Hebrides.
Key facts
- Winner announced: November 9, 2026, in London
- Prize: £50,000 for the winner; £2,500 and a specially bound edition for each shortlisted author
- Longlist: 13 novels, announced July 28
The six shortlisted novels
The End of Everything — M. John Harrison
A scavenger lives with his aunt on a post-apocalyptic Kent coast as society collapses amid an alien invasion. Harrison, a long-admired figure in speculative fiction, brings his trademark unease to a story about endings both cosmic and personal.
The Disappearers — Marlon James
The former Booker winner returns to late-20th-century Jamaica to examine the killing of a gay actor rehearsing a play, and the long aftermath of that crime.
Black Bag — Luke Kennard
A struggling actor signs up for a university psychology experiment that requires him to spend a term of lectures inside a large black bag — a premise that becomes a sharp comedy about visibility and identity.
May We Feed the King — Rebecca Perry
Two timelines interweave: a reluctant monarch in an unnamed medieval court and a modern curator working in a historic palace.
The Things We Never Say — Elizabeth Strout
An ordinary Massachusetts teacher with an outwardly comfortable life is quietly overtaken by isolation and despair — territory Strout has made her own across a celebrated career.
John of John — Douglas Stuart
A young art graduate returns to his strict, devoutly religious home on the Isle of Harris. Stuart, who won the Booker in 2020 for Shuggie Bain, could become one of the few authors to win the prize twice.
Themes that tie the list together
Several of the books share a preoccupation with solitude and the difficulty of being seen — whether literally inside a black bag or emotionally within a family or community. The list balances established names with less familiar voices, and blends realism with genre-bending experiments.
A shortlist that rewards risk: comic premises, speculative settings and quiet domestic tragedy all sit side by side.
Who is the favourite?
Early attention has focused on Stuart and Strout, both with large international readerships, but Booker juries have a long history of surprising the bookmakers. We will preview the final decision ahead of the November 9 ceremony. Explore more in our Entertainment section.